Share Your Progress
We love to see our community in action! Attach an image of yourself living out the lessons you’ve learned and you might be featured in the Learning Lab or on Facebook.
Defining Community
What does it mean to be part of a community?
Think about the following four words: Group, Belonging, Benefits, Responsibility. What do these words mean to you? What would you tell someone if they asked you what these words meant?
For the activity today, we are going to use the following definitions.
Group – People who gather together for a common purpose – learning, playing, working, etc.
Belonging – A sense of security and connection
Benefits – Advantages or positive results
Responsibilities – Duties that have to be carried out as part of a job or position
Think about what it feels like to be part of a group. A major benefit of being part of a group is feeling a sense of belonging. This is part of what defines a community.
People talk about community in lots of different ways. Sometimes communities are thought of as neighborhoods or cities, sometimes they are thought of as being based on common interests. People also talk about communities as groups of people that come together to help each other. For example, after something bad happens, like COVID-19 and hunger, or if there is a house fire or flood in a neighborhood, many community members come together to help one another.
Watch the video read-aloud of City Green. While watching, think about what brings the community in the story together and what it takes for them to reach their goal. How did we see each of our four words – group, belonging, benefits, responsibilities – play a role in the story?
Just like in the story, Kids’ Food Basket also has a space to grow beautiful flowers, and healthy fruits and vegetables for the community. At the Kids’ Food Basket Farm, volunteer groups come together to help plant and harvest healthy, nourishing food that benefits the community. Even if they do not directly get something in return, they feel responsible to do it because it feels good to help others, and because they know it will help everyone in the community have better access to healthy and beneficial foods. This helps them feel a sense of belonging because they are working together with other volunteers to support their community.
Use the “Part of my Community” worksheet to brainstorm ways you can, or currently do, help to support your community!
BONUS COMMUNITY BUILDING CHALLENGE: You will need 10 plastic cups, 1 rubber band and 4 pieces of string cut in 1 foot lengths. Find 1-3 other individuals to work collaboratively with you to design a tool, using only the strings and rubber band, that will allow you to stack all 10 plastic cups without touching them with your hands. Try it out! If it didn’t work, what improvements can you make to your design so that it might work better?
Discuss: How was the cup stacking activity like being part of a community? We would love to hear your thoughts!
Overview
Grade: K-5
SUPPLIES/EQUIPMENT:
- What’s in the Bag? worksheet
- Part of my Community worksheet
- 10 plastic cups
- 1 rubberband
- 4 pieces of string cut in 1 foot lengths
CURRICULUM INFO:
Objective: To understand the definition of community and what it means to be part of a community. To work collaboratively to complete a challenge.
Standards Addressed: 3-5.SL.1b; 3-5.SL.1d; CC.K-12.MP1; CC.K-12.MP5; CC.K-12.MP6; ST.1; ST-ET.4; ST-ET.1; HE.3.4.3; 3B; 4A
